


Symphony of the Wind

by grumpyfrumpy



Category: Dungeons & Dragons (Roleplaying Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern with Magic, Domestic Fluff, Elemental Magic, Fanfiction, Fluff and Angst, Genasi, Hurt/Comfort, LGBTQ Character, M/M, Mild Smut, Romance, Slice of Life, idk about that no promises lmao
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-25
Updated: 2019-02-24
Packaged: 2019-11-05 01:04:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,715
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17909084
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/grumpyfrumpy/pseuds/grumpyfrumpy
Summary: Veradis is in need of a pen when a handsome stranger named Kāze comes to his aid. Needless to say, Veradis is smitten immediately.Later, he ends up moving into a four-bedroom house at the end of his third year of university - and finds himself sharing a house with said handsome stranger. Feelings ensue.





	Symphony of the Wind

**Author's Note:**

> I would like to thank my friend [itshoon](https://archiveofourown.org/users/itshoon) for allowing me to write with her wonderful characters Veradis and Ska, and again Hoon and the Clayleb Collective for encouraging my incessant obsession with our D&D characters enough to actually write about them. 
> 
> Hoon, thank you so much for being a great friend and for culturing the love for our characters into something so great and powerful! I hope I don't disappoint <3

“Veradis! _Veradis!!_ ”

A blue-skinned genasi turned around to the source of the sound, his blue eyes lighting up in delight. He had indigo blue hair, fluffed and overgrown onto one side with the colours fading at the tips, drifting almost as if underwater. Freckles adorning his face and he had ears shaped like fish fins. Whenever he smiled, a small sharp tooth showed.

Ska, also a genasi with chocolate skin, patches of wood going down his neck and chest, disappearing into his vest. His left arm was made entirely of wood, rough to the touch and had the occasional twig and leaf grow from it. His green hair was actually blades of grass, shaved to an undercut.

He waved at Veradis, holding out his phone towards the genasi.

“Oh?” Veradis leaned closer, peering at his friend’s phone screen. “Japanese Culture Club… due to the increasing demand, a few students have gotten together and created a club to engage in all things that teach about the Japanese culture blah blah blah- Shit, this is amazing, Ska!”  
“Thought you might like that.” Ska grinned as he put away his phone. “Sign-ups are in the hall above, on a red noticeboard.”

The other nodded excitedly, “Awesome. I’ll do that first thing tomorrow.”  
“Might want to go now, actually, they’ve only got thirty odd spaces.”

Veradis gasped audibly, earning himself a few stares from other students in the hallway. “Oh no, I really need to-”  
“Yeah yeah, go on, I’ll take your cello back to the dorm.” Ska took a hold of the large instrument and waved Veradis off.

“Thanks a ton! You’re awesome, Ska, I’ll buy you a shake later!”  
“Wait! Don’t forget to take your pen…” Ska sighed as he pulled out a pen from one of the pockets of the cello case.

 

 

Veradis stood in front of the noticeboard, realising that they _didn’t supply pens_ , and he had left it with his instrument. He frowned, knowing he would have to come back later unless he could get his hands on one. And at nine in the evening? Highly unlikely.

“Damn it.” He grumbled as he rummaged through the bag for a spare pen, but to no avail. He _really_ needed to get back into bringing more stationery - unfortunately for him, that was an elementary school habit long forgotten.

Veradis ended up sighing in defeat, and just about ready to give up and walk away when there was a pat on his shoulder.

“Ehm, I believe you need a pen?”

Veradis turned to face this foreign voice and ended up staring dumbly at the taller man, taken aback by sheer beauty. He had pointed ears, greyish skin and long, black hair tied back into a ponytail, swishing with the slightest movement of his head. There were beautiful patterns across his face and arms, swirling in and out of sight, and shining slightly in the orange lighting of the hallway.

“Uh,” Veradis nodded slowly as he took the pen from the other man’s hand, his eyes noticing the stethoscope around the other’s neck. “Thanks, um- thank you, doctor?”  
“Not yet. Medical student, third year. But glad to see you hold me in high regard.” The other man winked playfully, and Veradis had to stop himself from looking at the man up and down, wearing a fitted shirt with the top button undone, a loosened tie and black fitted trousers. In comparison, Veradis, wearing a hoodie and ripped jeans that were a few ways above his ankles, felt rather underdressed.

“Right, so would you mind writing my name down as well?”

Veradis slowly nodded, turning back to face the board as a blush began to form his cheeks. It wasn’t often that he met someone _as_ attractive as this medical student that made him immediately conscious of his actions and demeanour. He quickly scribbled down his own name and turned towards the stranger who nodded at him to begin.

“Kāze, with a straight line on top of the a - there we go.” Kāze gave Veradis a small smile. “Mac, with an A, and L-E-A-Y.”

Veradis scribbled down the name as per instruction, stopping to look down at what he'd written again. _Kāze MacLeay._

“Veradis. Nice to meet you.” Kāze smiled kindly, and the genasi could feel his knees go weak when Kāze rolled the R in his name. A subtle difference but Veradis noticed immediately and he _definitely_ liked it.

“N-Nice to meet you too, Kāze.” Veradis managed to stammer out, looking up at Kāze with his cheeks giving away his growing attraction to this man he had literally just met. “Uh, so, medicine, huh?”

_Great. As if the stethoscope wasn’t clear enough, you idiot._ Veradis wished he could use his magic to create a hole in the ground and disappear - though unfortunately, the school faculty might not like that.

“Yeah, hoping to specialise in paediatrics once I’m finished with med school. And you, what course are you?”  
“Music. String instruments, mostly.” Veradis spoke with more ease. Music was something that he could talk about without a second thought, but he refrained from saying too much. Kāze's lips pulled together as he nodded, impressed.

“Lovely. Might have you play for my study session if they cannae sleep.”  
“I mean, I don’t mind! For you, I’ll play for you, no problem.” Veradis felt his cheeks burn at those words, though he meant it in an innocent manner, the afterthought was anything but. Kāze raised a brow, the corners of his lips tugging up in a mischievous smile.

“Mmhmm, no problem, I’m sure.” Kāze chuckled, before reaching out to take his pen back from Veradis. “I’ll hold you to that then, aye?”

Veradis nodded rapidly, now wanting this conversation to be over so he could lock himself in a music room and just _scream_. Kāze waved him goodbye, turning around slowly to join another med student that had been waiting for him at the end of the hallway.

The genasi’s chest ached with longing as Kāze walked away, and he recognised this feeling all too well, with a dread-filled heart.

 

 

“Ska, I need your help, I think I'm in love.” Veradis ran into the dorm room, immediately flopping down in front of his startled best friend. Ska looked at him in confusion, brows raised.  
  
“Um, so I left you alone for twenty minutes and you went and _fell in love_ ?”  
“Yes! Look. He's _beautiful_ . He's a doctor, he dresses so nicely you would cry. He's also got a Scottish accent, and the _way_ he said my name, I could-”  
  
Ska held his hand up and stuck his tongue out in mock disgust, turning on his computer setup. “Spare me the commentary. Just give me his name.”

“Okay, geez,” Veradis grumbled, pulling himself up onto a chair next to Ska. “Kāze MacLeay. It's spelt like this.”

Veradis typed out the name into his Google search bar and showed it to his friend, who followed suit in his more advanced (and probably illegal) source of information - the school database.

“Right, one hit, he's a third-year medical student. Twenty-five, B.Sc Genetics, that's all I can say from this. He's from Scotland, a star student, he seems to be getting good marks in class. Yeah, I approve. How'd you meet him?”

Veradis explained how he'd been staring at the board with no pen in hand, and Kāze had been kind enough to lend him one, and strike conversation at the same time.

“Well, hopefully, your _love_ and you hit it off at the club meetings then. But for now, maybe you can start helping me with looking for a place to stay the next year?”  
“Relax, Ska,” the other rolled his eyes. “We've got three weeks left to move out. We'll be fine.”

 

 

Two weeks later, and everything was far from fine. If anything, Veradis was starting to regret not searching for a house much sooner. There was no way he and Ska could find a dorm again, they had already told the warden they wouldn't be staying, and the students that were to move into their room would be here in less than five days.

“God, why are we so dysfunctional?” Veradis groaned under his breath, walking down the hallway as he looked through the house listings in their area. For a college town, it was becoming surprisingly hard to find a house for two in the Richmond locality. He was already late for his theory class, having slept much too late to function properly. House hunting had taken up so much of his time that he didn’t even have time to look more into that handsome doctor - no, a _medical student_.

“Hey, Veradis! Why the long face?”  
“Oh, nothing, just haven’t found a place to stay yet.” Veradis looked up at the woman walking next to him, a coral tiefling with lavender hair braided and worn around her neck like a scarf. She had amounts of jewellery adorning her horns, arms and ears. There was a scar right across her left eye that was completely white, and faint pale lines running down her arms.

“Really? Just you or are there more people?” Jilaiya asked with a frown, and Veradis slowly nodded.

“Yeah, my roommate, Ska, we’ve been looking but the only houses we’ve been getting are three-room houses or four-room houses.” He sighed, as he plopped down onto one of the chairs in the lecture hall. Jilaiya gasped in delight, sitting down right next to him.

“Hey! Me and a friend have found a place and they let us have it given that we'll find two other people to stay with us within the week. Would you and Ska be interested?”  
“Woah! Really, Lai, you're not pulling my leg here?”

Jilaiya rolled her eyes, before bringing down her voice to a whisper following the appearance of their teacher. “Of course not. We're also rather desperate to find a pair to room with us. All of our friends have already found people to room with.”  
“Okay. Sounds fine, but can we at least have a meeting before we decide to room with each other?” Veradis suggested, not particularly keen on agreeing so quickly without knowing who the fourth person was. Jilaiya nodded as she opened her diary to check what the day was.

“Of course. He's a little busy usually, but I'll try and get him to squeeze in some time today.” Jilaiya noted it down in her diary and gave him a small grin. “I also look forward to meeting Ska. Is he nice?”

A cough and glare from their professor put their conversation to rest, and as she turned away, Veradis nodded slowly. “Yeah. He's nice, you'll see. And your friend?”  
“Veradis, if you're going to discuss living arrangements with your friend, might I suggest you do it _after the class_ ?”  
“Yes! Sorry, ma'am!” Veradis squeaked at the tiefling, and the rest of the class chuckled at his plight.

 

 

“Jilaiya? Yeah, I think you mentioned her before, but who's this other dude?”  
“I don’t know, I couldn't ask. Mrs Fraelem called me out for whispering in between class, and then she ran off later.” Veradis muttered, walking through the door of the Starbucks on campus with Ska in tow. “Then she had to run off for her art lesson so we just agreed to meet here.”  
“I don't understand how someone could handle a double major in this university.”  
“Ska, you're a double major in Physiology and Computer Science.”  
“I know, that's exactly why I said it. Look, that tiefling's waving at you, is that your friend?” Ska pointed towards a young woman seated by the window, waving at Veradis excitedly.

“That's her. Hey, Lai.” Veradis smiled as they walked over to the table. “Did you wait long?”  
“No, don't worry, I've only been here for ten minutes. And you must be Ska?” She smiled at the other man, who nodded with a smile.

“Nice to meet you, ma'am.” Ska pretended to tip a hat, earning a giggle from Veradis’ friend.

“Charmed. I'm Jilaiya Nyström! Sorry, K’s going to be joining us a little later, maybe in another ten minutes.” Jilaiya smiled apologetically as the three of them sat down.

“Oh, don't worry about it, as long as you can attest to that he's not a grumpy person, it's fine if he can't make it.” Ska shrugged, and Veradis also nodded in agreement.

“I have full faith in your friendships, Lai.”  
“Oh, I don't know about being grumpy. He's a doctor - well, student, still. You know how doctors are particularly about this and that…”

Veradis glanced up to see Jilaiya shrug at Ska. “No, no I'm joking. He's really nice. Super chill, doesn't get annoyed all much.”  
“Phew. That's good to know. At least I don't have to worry about dying in my sleep if we've got a doctor in the house.”  
“Speak of the devil. There he comes.”

Veradis and Ska turned around to see a figure come to the table dressed in jeans, combat boots and a blue shirt tucked in - the two realised with horror that they recognised exactly who this person was.

“K-Kāze!” Veradis managed to yelp out, and the doctor looked at him with a smile of recognition.

“Oh, Veradis, I didn't think I'd get to see you till September.” Kāze smiled as he sat down in the seat next to Jilaiya, right in front of Veradis. “Didn't know you knew Lai.”  
“Same class, Kāze, we both are in the string quartet. These two are also the people who will hopefully room with us.” Jilaiya grinned at Veradis and Ska, who could only manage strained smiles (though Ska was under a more _humorous_ kind of strain).

Kāze looked at the two, surprised. “Oh! Small world. I actually met Veradis in front of a noticeboard. Needed a pen to join a club, then thought I'd also tag along for it if time permits next year.”  
“Yeah, final year medical student, huh?” The words slipped off of Ska's tongue before he realised he wasn't _technically_ supposed to know that. Kāze glanced at Ska suspiciously, raising a brow.

“Yeah… How'd you know?”  
“I told him,” Veradis intervened, as Ska struggled for an excuse, giving Kāze a sheepish smile. “Told him how a third-year medical student helped me with the pen.”

Kāze relaxed, leaning back into his chair. “Alright, fair. Strange detail to mention.” He added as an afterthought but left it at that. “So you’re Ska?”

The four engaged in conversation for a short while, before Ska stood up to order their drinks for them. He nodded at Jilaiya, asking if she’d tag along.

“Me? Sure! I’ll be right back. Be nice, Kāze.” Jilaiya gave him and Veradis a thumbs up, and Ska was doing all he could to stop himself from bursting into laughter. Veradis glared at him as he walked off, trying to push down the sense of betrayal from his friend as he turned back towards Kāze.

“Sorry about him, he’s a little... _awkward_ in social situations sometimes?” Veradis projected the lie as more of a question than a statement, and he _knew_ Kāze wasn’t really falling for it, but to his relief, just shrugged the matter off.

“It’s alright, don’t worry about it too much. How have your classes been, then?”

Veradis wondered how it was so _simple_ for Kāze to speak to him like he had known him for years. “Oh, they’ve been fine. Somehow, the teacher passed me into my final year.”  
“Oh, you’ve got one of those teachers, huh? Sounds like they should have been a doctor instead.”  
“Yeah, talk about perfectionism, music isn’t something that should be so rigid and correct anyway,” Veradis grumbled, knowing full well he was about to start ranting about this teacher to this person he barely knew, but Kāze didn’t seem to mind, only looking at him with a bemused grin.

“Music is subjective,” Kāze agreed. “So really, they should be looking more at your technique, yeah?”  
“Exactly.” Veradis nodded passionately, “God, she’s vile, I really hope she’s not my teacher next year.”

Kāze gave him an apologetic smile, patting his hand gently. “I hope so too, Veradis.”

Veradis’ heart skipped a beat when Kāze’s hand rested over his - and he _knew_ that this was trouble.


End file.
